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I Am Weasel
I Am Weasel is an American animated television series created by David Feiss forCartoon Network, at the studio of Hanna-Barbera, being the fourth of the network'sCartoon Cartoons. The series centers on I. M. Weasel, a smart, beloved and highly successfulweasel, and I. R. Baboon, an unsuccessful, unintelligent baboon who is jealous of Weasel's success and constantly tries to upstage him, usually failing to do so. It was originally a part of Cow and Chicken from 1997 to 1999, often airing as the third of three segments in an episode, after two segments of that show (except in one occurrence, where it aired as a second segment between the two parts of an episode).9 Eventually, I Am Weasel''was spun off into its own series, which aired from June 10, 1999 to early 2000, with both new episodes and the ones that had aired on''Cow and Chicken included in this series, totaling 79. Premise The series chronicles the random adventures of twofunny animal frenemies: I.M. Weasel (Michael Dorn) and I.R. Baboon (Charlie Adler). The first one is a famous, heroic, eloquent, highly intelligent and very talented weasel who always tries to help people out and is thus adored by everybody, constantly shouting his catchphrase "I am Weasel!" while pointing high in the air before going after help.10 The latter is his total opposite, an ugly and idiotic hamadryas baboon who is envious of his success and constantly tries to do better than him (also doing a victory dance to express his joy when thinking he's doing so),10and failing miserably after all due to his total stupidity. Starting from season two, the Red Guy (Charlie Adler), a devilish red man who never uses pants, assumes multiple personalities and is a main character in Cow and Chicken, also gets that role in I Am Weasel, where he is also referred to as "I.B. Red Guy", an allusion to Weasel's and Baboon's names.11 His addition to the series makes him gradually take the role of villain from I.R., who becomes more friendly to Weasel, despite still despising him. As the series progresses, I.M. Weasel, initially showed as an invincible hero, gradually loses the focus to I.R. Baboon, because people are shown to get gradually dumber.1213 In the series finale, I.R. is finally presented as the true star of the show instead of him.14 Supporting characters include Loulabelle (Susanne Blakeslee, Teresa Ganzel), Weasel's assistant and kind of girlfriend, who usually dresses herself as a nurse (except in one episode, where she is seen dressed as a laboratory assistant),15 Jolly Roger (Dee Bradley Baker), a fat man who wears glasses and either a tiny tuxedo or a white t-shirt with shorts and a sailor "dixie cup" hat, and also usually appears suddenly in the episodes and takes some roles similar to the Red Guy's, and Admiral Bullets (Jess Harnell, Michael Gough), a short naval officer who often relies on Weasel's help and is often seem over a small bench. Many characters from Cow and Chicken make cameo appearances in I Am Weasel from season two, these include: Cow, Chicken (Charlie Adler), Mom, Teacher (Candi Milo), Dad (Dee Bradley Baker), Flem (Howard Morris), and Earl (Dan Castellaneta).164 Universe setting While season 1 does not seem to have any link to Cow and Chicken universe, from season 2, I Am Weasel seems to usually happen in the same universe of that show, as characters from that show usually appear, but, in most of the time, in different places.1714 An episode, though, does present it as a TV show airing in Cow and Chicken world, suggesting another universe, but Weasel and I.R. are both taken out of TV after all.11 The same occurs in another episode, but with the characters in the same universe.14 Humor style Humor relies on slapstick comedy and moderate off-color humor, as typical of many 1990s cartoons, and is based on the existent gap between the central characters, with I.R. Baboon being the center of most running jokes, which are mostly about his stupidity and big red butt, though some episodes show I.M. Weasel or the Red Guy also taking this role. Butt jokes are also more frequent when the Red Guy is around and parodies of popular culture and other shows and crossovers also take place in some episodes.1819 Despite all the comedic style, important and meaningful messages about friendship, social differences and general lessons for life are given to children through stories or when I.M. Weasel directly talks to the audience.20 Season 1 shows Weasel as a "perfect" character, not leaving a single shortcoming, and Baboon as exact opposite to this, but that gradually changes throughout the series, with Weasel later starting to show some misbehavior and inefficiency, mostly because he notices people around him are getting dumber, and thus I.R. even being dimwitted gets a hero status.14 From season 2 onwards, the Red Guy incorporates humor style found in Cow and Chicken, taking the role of villain, but also being sometimes a third wheel, something that never happens in that show.14 In season 5, Jolly Roger also starts to fill both roles.21 Some episodes titles make fun of Baboon's misspelling, with grammatically incorrect names such as "I Are Big Star", "I Are Good Salesmans" and "I Are a Artiste".1 The titles also tend to reference the name of the show and Weasel's catchphrase, often being written in first person.1 Fourth wall breaking is something that also happens, mostly at the end of episodes. The characters do it to make some ending commentaries, give advices to spectators or just call for the end of the episode.21 Production Creation and development Cow and Chicken started out as the pilot episode "No Smoking" on What a Cartoon! in 1995, and was greenlit to become a series. Hanna-Barbera/Cartoon Network demanded a second cartoon to join Cow and Chicken in its half-hour time slot, so creator David Feiss came up with I Am Weasel, with the name based upon the novel I Am Legend.2223 According to Feiss, the idea for creating the show begun as a single drawing of I.M. Weasel with the caption "I Am Weasel" and that "suggested many stories to me".24 Also, the fact that the Red Guy doesn't wear panties was controversial for many people, as he said: "The thing that I never thought that I'd get approval for was the Red Guy. The mere fact that he didn't wear pants was a challenge for a lot of people and I am glad Cartoon Network let it go - he's my favorite character".24 It started to get produced around April 199625 and was inserted as a series of segments in Cow and Chicken until mid 1999. Right after the end of that show, it was spun-off into a new separated series produced until September 16, 1999.7, with all the previous episodes incorporated and removed from Cow and Chicken. General production took place at the studio of Hanna-Barbera, with the series being labeled as part of both the collection of cartoons of that company and Cartoon Network's Cartoon Cartoons. Animation production was made overseas at Rough Draft Studios, in South Korea.4 Art style The exact same art style of Cow and Chicken is used starting from season 2.23 Season 1, though, is a bit different in both art and characters presented.26 Title card style for episodes is also different in season 1, featuring animation and Weasel saying the name of the episode with additional commentary and/or events, contrasting with the title card style used for Cow and Chicken, with static image, which takes place in I Am Weasel from season 2 onwards.2627 Title sequence, credits and music The title sequence features I.M. Weasel using constantly his catchphrase "I am Weasel!" and I.R. Baboon with his trademarked victory dance.10 The series ending credits were only created in 1999, with the separation; it shows all the three years of production and the theme song is played instrumentally in a pop rock style, with additional arrangement.4 The theme song was composed by Bill Fulton,2 written by Richard Pursel, and sung by April March.3 It is a humorous take on the classic nursery rhyme "Pop Goes the Weasel", based on the well-known musical version of the rhyme. Voice cast Michael Dorn provides voice for I.M. Weasel andCharlie Adler does both voices of I.R. Baboon and the Red Guy. Loulabelle is voiced by Susanne Blakeslee in season 2 and Teresa Ganzel in season 3, Jolly Roger by Dee Bradley Baker, and Admiral Bullets by Jess Harnell in season 1 and Michael Gough in season 2.416 Additional characters are voiced by the before-mentioned along Candi Milo, Howard Morris, Dan Castellaneta, Frank Welker, Dom DeLuise, Carlos Alazraqui, Tom Kenny, among others. Broadcast Broadcast history A sneak peek for the series was aired on July 15, 1997 with the eleventh episode, "Law of Gravity",73031 and then it started its original run from July 22, 1997 with the second episode, "I.R. on Sun", all yet as a series of segments on''Cow and Chicken''.7 After four seasons, it was separated and premiered as a half-hour show on June 10, 1999,32and the 52 episodes originally aired on Cow and Chicken began to air on the show's own time slot, being either in or outside the Cartoon Cartoon Fridays programming block, and getting joined by 27 new episodes, totaling 79.33 The original run ended in early 2000.8 Reruns aired prominently from early 2000 to 2003, including on Cartoon Cartoon Fridays. From September 2005 to April 10, 2006, it returned sporadically as segments on The Cartoon Cartoon Show, along with other Cartoon Cartoons from that era.34 On April 13, 2012, the series returned on Cartoon Planet before being removed in 2013. It was also aired on Boomerang, but only with seasons 1 to 4 along the Cow and Chicken segments, and on Cartoon Network Too in the United Kingdom. Some episodes were also made available on Cartoon Network Video in the early 2010s. From June 25, 2017, season 1 was made available on Netflix in Australia, along Cow and Chicken.35 The show is rated TV-Y7 in the United States,36 and G (General) in both Australia and New Zealand.3738 ; Brazilian miniseries In Brazil, an animated miniseries named Terra à Vista ("Land in Sight") was produced in 2000 for Cartoon Network, and tells the story of the Portuguese arriving at Brazil with a humorous take, using characters from Cartoon Cartoons, including I.M. Weasel, I.R. Baboon and the Red Guy. It was broadcast on Cartoon Network Brazil from March 6 to April 22, 2000 and has 8 episodes. This series was also the first-ever Cartoon Network production exclusively made for Brazil.39 Episodes Season 1 (1997) Season 2 (1998) Season 3 (1998) Season 4 (1998–1999) Season 5 (1999–2000) Ratings It became one of the most successful Cartoon Network original series of its time, usually being remembered along other successful Cartoon Cartoons. The premiere of season 5 on June 10, 1999 reached 1.8 million viewers in households, acquiring 4.4 with kids 2-11 and 4.6 with kids 6-11.40 It was also the fifth most watched show on Cartoon Network in 2000, with an average rating of 1.8 million viewers, only and not far behind The Powerpuff Girls (1.9), Tom and Jerry (2.0), Courage the Cowardly Dog (2.1) and Dexter's Laboratory (2.3).41 Back in 1997 and 1998, I Am Weasel along Cow and Chicken, Johnny Bravo and Dexter's Laboratory, were responsible for increasing Cartoon Network's average ratings. Merchandise Home media Media releases have been made in both VHS and DVD formats. In the United States, no media containing complete seasons was released as of March 2018, but some episodes were launched on a Cartoon Cartoons VHS from 1998, dedicated exclusively to the show and containing the episodes "My Friend, the Smart Banana", "I.R. Pixie Fairie" and "I.R. in Wrong Cartoon",44 and Cartoon Cartoon Fridays VHS in 1999, but along other series.45 As for DVDs, also in USA, Cartoon Network released special ones for Halloween and Christmas holidays in 2004 and 2005, distributed byWarner Home Video, containing one or two episodes.46 In Thailand, complete seasons have been released on DVD since 2009 by MVD Company; the season one's was launched on December 23, 2009.47 In Australia, a two-disc season one DVD was launched on July 6, 2011, distributed by Madman Entertainment.37 The same release was also launched in New Zealand on August 11, 2011.38 Only official seasons releases and compilation media made by Cartoon Network are listed here, excluding all releases by third-party companies. The show also has two audio tracks featured in Cartoon Medley, a compilation album made by Kid Rhino for Cartoon Network, containing tracks from many animated series from the network and others. It was released on July 6, 1999, in CD and cassette releases,48 and contains the show's audio tracks "I Am Weasel", which is the theme song, and "I.M. Weasel's Poem", an oral text spoken by I.M. Weasel.49 Comics From 1999 to 2005, I Am Weasel had stories featured on three collective comic series published by DC Comics:Cartoon Network Starring (1999–2000), Cartoon Cartoons (2001–2004; having lead stories on issues #5 and #19)50and Cartoon Network Block Party! (2004–2009). It was presented along stories from many Cartoon Network original series, such as Dexter's Laboratory, Johnny Bravo, Cow and Chicken, Ed, Edd n Eddy, Courage the Cowardly Dog,The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, Sheep in the Big City, among others.515253 The characters also appeared in the crossover comic series The Powerpuff Girls: Super Smash-Up!.5455 | |} Gaming An I Am Weasel-themed checkers set was part of a promotion made by Cartoon Network in the late 1990s/early 2000s.56 On the kart racing video game, Cartoon Network Racing, available for PlayStation 2 and Nintendo DS, I.M. Weasel is a playable character, while I.R. Baboon and the Red Guy must be unlocked to play with, but the first is available in the DS version only.57 Also, only in the PS2 version, the episodes "Enemy Camp" and "My Friend, the Smart Banana" are available as extras which can be unlocked by winning the "UR Challenged Cup" and "I.M. Weasel Super Tournament" modes, respectively.57 In the MMO game, Cartoon Network Universe: FusionFall, there was an item named "I.R. Baboon shorts", which were player-wearable shorts based upon I.R. Baboon's buttocks.58 Flash games of the series were also available on Cartoon Network website during the 1990s and 2000s.5960 Clothing Cartoon Network officially sells adult t-shirts featuring the characters and references to the show on its official online shop.61